The following history contains excerpts from The Jefferson County
Journal and the Watertown Daily Times, who granted permission to
reproduce on The Adams, NY History and Genealogy web site. Much
of the information contained within this page was originally compiled
and submitted to the town of Adams, NY, in an effort to gain
historic funding to preserve the Dwight Block, and all of dowtown
Adams, NY.

Although downtown Adams, NY has now been designated a historic district
by the National Historic Trust and the State of New York, the
designation was too late for the Dwight Block. Two other
buildings in downtown Adams, NY will be torn down sometime in
2008. Both of which are located near Belloff's and are
built over the creek.

A historic park has been created at the site of the Dwignt Block by the
Downtown Adams, NY Revitalization Committee. If all goes
according to plan, the park will be dedicated sometime during Labor Day
weekend of 2008, and named in honor of J. Sterling Morton, who was born
in Adams, and founded Arbor Day.

TRANSCRIBED
FROM THE
1884
JEFFERSON COUNTY JOURNAL

Thursday,
August 28, 1884
ADAMS IN FLAMES!

The
Principal Building Blocks on West Main
Street
Burned - Including Adams Collegiate Institute
Watertown Firemen with Steamer No. 2 come to the
rescue.

For the third
time Adams has met with a heavy loss
by fire, probably the greatest in its history. A few minutes
before
two o'clock this morning, fire was discovered in Chandler &
Lamson's
store by Dr. R. T. Kirkland and Fred Lee. An alarm was
immediately
given and the fire engine was out promptly, first being placed near the
millpond back of E. Cook's store. The water in the pond was so
low,
however, that they could not reach it, and it was moved to the
reservoir
opposite the Huson House. At first it seemed as tho' the firemen
would control the fire, but it soon became evident that they could not
and a dispatch was sent to Watertown for help. The fire spread
rapidly,
taking in J. O. Brown's grocery store, Arms & Hungerford's and D.
E.
Taylor's dry goods stores, A. W. Kirby's clothing store and Ripley's
boot
and shoe store until the road was reached. It was thought at the
time that the building could be save, but when the reservoir on the
north
side of the creek was pumped dry, the company were compelled to move in
the reservoir on the south side and directed their efforts to
preventing
the fire spreading south; which: they finally succeeded in doing, but
not
before H. E. Fox's drug store, John H. Gilbert's clothing store, Chas.
Clark's saloon and Loren Ripley's harness shop were burned.

They
succeeded in stopping the fire at Union block, which by the way is a
wooden
one, while those that burned were brick. At two minutes before
five
the Watertown company No. 2 and part of No. 3 arrived with No. 2's
steamer.
They were delayed in procuring a platform car on which to place their
engine
and at Adams Center waited six minutes to pass train No. 3. This
delay is what lost us our Institute Building formerly known as the
Cooper
House block. If they had arrived a few minutes earlier, it would
have been saved. However, they prevented the fire from spreading
any further, and undoubtedly saved Huson House, and private dwellings
of
Railroad street. As far as we can assess at the present writing,
the losses are as follows: Adams Collegiate Institute - $10,000,
insurance
$6,000; Prof. G. B. Rhodes had $600 insurance in his household goods
which
will cover his loss. Wm. Daily, the janitor of the institute lost
all household good was covered by insurance. L. J. Bullock's
stock
millinery goods were nearly all removed, loss covered by insurance, W.
A. Overton's grocery stock was nearly all removed and loss well covered
by insurance. N. A. Barney's stock was nearly all removed and
loss
covered by insurance. D. A. Dwight's three stores in Institute
block
were appraised at $6,000, insurance $4,000. The goods in Ripley's
shop were nearly all removed and insured. The stock in Taylor's
dry
goods store were nearly all removed, and the loss will be covered by
insurance.
Maxon & Ramsdell saved their library and valuable papers.
Mrs.
McNeal saved but little from her millinery rooms. The block
occupied
by Kilby and Ripley were owned by Charles Chris and, valued at $6,000,
insurance
$4,000. Arms Y Hungerford were unable to move but a little large
stock of dry goods and probably are the heaviest losers. Loss
$2,500,
insurance $1,600. Not a thing was saved from J. O. Brown's
grocery
stock which was valued at $6,000, with an insurance of $3000.
Chandler
& Lamson lost their entire stock valued at $6,000, with about
$3,000
insurance. H. E. Fox saved some of his drug stock, which was
valued
at $5,000 with $3,000 insurance. W. H. H. Taylor lost his law
library
and all his law papers, no insurance. C. W. Snow, billiard room,
loss $1,000, insurance $500.
The
block occupied by Arms & Hungerford was
owned
by E. J. Wait, valued at $4,000 with $2,500 insurance. The store
occupied by J. O. Brown was owned by Mrs. A. B. Huson, valued at
$3,500,
insurance $2,500. The store occupied by H. E. Fox was owned by
Erastus
Hale's estate, insurance $4,000, loss $2,000. The store occupied
by John H. Gilbert was owned by a. B. Gilbert on which there was no
insurance.
Chas. Clark removed most of the stock in his saloon. The stock of
Loren Ripley's harness shop was also removed. The building was
owned
by D. B. Lockwood, valued at $4,000, insurance $2,500. Geo.
Horth's
store adjoining was not burned, but damaged to some extent as well as
stock.
R. T. Kirkland, dentist, lost about $800, with $500 insurance.

PERMISSION
TO REPRODUCE
GRANTED BY THE JEFFERSON COUNTY JOURNAL
Transcription
by Nancy Ring Kendrick

THE
1884 FIRE

To
the citizens of Adams, a sermon on "The Fire" at the
Presbyterian church, Sunday evening, by the pastor. All invited
to consider the lessons of the Fire.

Had
our village been possessed of proper facilities
for fighting fire, a large number of buildings would have been spared
as
their was little wind. When will our people awake to the
necessity
of procuring something with which to properly fight the fire
demon.
Let us arouse from our Rip Van Winkle sleep in this matter and do
something.
Now is the time for action.

Many thanks are rendered to the boys
of Watertown
Fire department who rendered such effective service in checking the
fire.

W. A.
Overton has moved his stock of grocery goods
into a store in Sanders' new block.

Hon. L. L. Hunt met with a loss of $500 on
his law
library. But few volumes were saved out of the Holley public
library.

John H.
Gilbew saved the greater part of his clothing,
loss covered by insurance.

D. E.
Taylor and A. D. Ripley have rented one half
of J. S. Brown & son's block and are moving their stock.

FROM COOPER BLOCK TO DWIGHT BLOCK

An enterprising
citizen, Thomas P. Saunders, born in 1821, came to Adams in 1834.
He studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1850. While practicing his profession he
also gave
attention to the erection of both public and private buildings.
The total
cost of these buildings was $150,000 and increased the growth,
prosperity and
beauty of Adams. He was ten times elected president of the
village of Adams. During his
administration, about twelve miles of concrete sidewalks were laid, and
the
waterworks in 1885 and electric light plant in 1889 were
established. In
1851, he built the first public hall on the fourth floor of a building
45' by
75', which burned in one of the fires shortly after. In 1866, he
built
the COOPER House block with a public hall on the third floor with
seating room
for 1,000. Though he promoted many improvements, he kept the
village out
of debt by his 'Pay as you go' policy.

In
1874, the Mendell Block was converted into a carriage shop and the
Dodge Carriage works was also started. In 1876 Saunders and
Wright built
a sawmill in the western part of the village. In 1878 on the 1809
site of
Abel Hart's inn a new hotel was erected and the Lockwood and COOPER
House were
still busy taverns.

A library had been started April 12, 1831 and lasted about 15
years and then closed due to lack of funds. The second
effort was
started in two rooms on the second floor of the DWIGHT Block being
named
"The Adams Free Library," with Mrs. Bell as librarian. It was
founded in 1900 by the efforts of the women of the
community. Later
it was in the Community Building and when the new Community Building
was built in 1965,
it was moved there. Mrs. O. B. Rhodes served as librarian for
many
years.

(From
an article dated 1955 by Marjorie Berry) The library as it is
known
today was established at a much later date in rooms on the second floor
of the
DWIGHT Block (Transcribers Note: Some may know this location as
the second
floor of the former RING's Store) on the corner of Main and West Church
Street. This had its beginning from a large gift of books from
Mr. and
Mrs. Brenton Babcock of Ohio. This public library was sponsored
by the Adams Study Club.

As
public benefactor General Hungerford's greatest
achievement was helping to bring Adams an educational institution of
high quality. Adams Collegiate
Institute was chartered by the Regents in 1855. General
Hungerford was
offered to give $10,000 if the community would match the endowment to
start the
school in a building that had come into his hands, the unfinished
Basswood
Hotel. School started in 1864 with 160 students, but burned in
1868. With the insurance money and more donations and the offer
of a site
on the hill of the name were changed to Hungerford Collegiate
Institute, a fine
brick building was built there and school began in 1870. Under
Principal
Watkins and vice Principal Orlo Rhodes and a fine staff of teachers, 60
boarding and 200 day students were well trained and the school was
noted for
its discipline and scholarship. The building was sold for debt in
1882.

Through
the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. D. A. DWIGHT, the Cooper Block was
bought and rented to the school, and the Adams Collegiate Institute
started
again in the COOPER Block. In 1884 that block burned and again
the
DWIGHT's came to the rescue and bought the Institute building (now the
Sholtz
Bldg.) and conveyed it to the trustees with reservations about keeping
it a
Christian school with no more debts. The cost to the
community had
been $80,000.

Ring's
5 & 10 was founded in 1938 by Felix (Fred) Michael Ring.
Once known as "Flansbury's", Ring's was located between the bank
building (now the Jefferson County Journal) and the Market Basket on
Main Street.

In
1939 the sale of the property was
finalized with Fred and Ada M. Ring becoming owners (see transcription
of deed from
1939).

In
1945 Ring's Store enlarged when
Felix (Fred) M. Ring began the process of purchasing the "Market
Basket" which was adjacent to the original Ring's Store. The
Market
Basket was located at the corner of Main and West Church Street.
It was also the year the Felix's sons, Fred and Al became
partners and took over as owners of the operation, as Felix chose to
retire. The address became 1 - 5 Main Street, Adams, NY.

The Ring family filed for
incorporation, and the business became Ring's Inc. in 1951.

Alan C. Ring sold the business to his
brother Fred J. Ring in December of 1978.
The Alan Ring family moved to Flagler Beach, FL, when Al accepted a
position as business manager of Dave Gibbs Chevrolet. Fred and
his wife
Marguerite ran the store until the 1980's.

1939
DEED OF PROPERTY LOCATED
AT 1 - 5 MAIN STREET, ADAMS, NY

ADA
M.
CRONK

to

FELIX
M.
RING & ano

THIS
INDENTURE
Made the 30th day of September, in the year Nineteen Hundred and
Thirty-nine,
Between ADA M. CRONK of the Town of Ellisburg, Jefferson
County,
New York, party of the first part, and FELIX
M. RING and ADA
M. RING, both of the Village of Adams, County of Jefferson and
State
of New York, parties of the second part.

WITNESSETH,
that the said party of the first part, in consideration of One Dollar,
lawful money of the United States, paid by the parties of the second
part,
does hereby grant and release unto the said parties of the second part,
their heirs and assigns forever,

ALL
THAT
TRACT OR PARCEL OF LAND, Situate in the TOWN AND
VILLAGE
OF ADAMS, County of Jefferson and State of New York, and bounded and
described
as follows: On the west by the center of Main Street;
on the north by lands of Nelson Green and Joseph Coon; on the east by
lands
of Julia Bond and lands now formerly in the possession of G. B. R.
Whipple
and on the south and southwest by lands of the Baptist Church, the
Seminary
Lot, Titus Barrett (Bassett); Thomas P. Saunders and William Puffer to
the center of Main Street aforesaid, supposed to contain two acres of
land,
more or less.

Being
the
same land deeded by William Wright and wife April 14, 1864 to Olive A.
Stearnes.

Excepting
and Reserving therefrom the land conveyed by Juliette Lewis and
husband,
by Warrant Deed dated June 9, 1868, to Solon D. Hungerford and Julia
Bond,
and which deed was recorded in the Jefferson County Clerk's Office July
13, 1868, in Book of Deeds Number 177 at page 5.

Also
Excepting
and Reserving therefrom a small parcel of the above described premises
heretofore sold and conveyed to Ambrose Johnson.

Also
Excepting
and Reserving therefrom that portion of said premises which was
conveyed
by Elizabeth D. Kirkland to Henry Adelbert Bettinger May 14, 1908, by
deed
recorded in Liber 326, page 298, in Clerk's office of Jefferson County,
NY.

This
conveyance
is made subject to a certain mortgage dated January 7, 1926, given by
Delia
A. Enos and Henry M. Enos to George W. Hannahs, and recorded in
Jefferson
County Clerk's Office January 14, 1926, in Liber 223 of Mortgages at
page
269, which said mortgage, by an instrument in writing, was thereafter
assigned
by the said George W. Hannahs to the Citizens and Farmers Trust
Company,
Adams, NY which said assignment is dated October 2nd, 1965, and is
recorded
in Jefferson County Clerk's Office in Liber 6 of Assignments of
Mortgages
at page 93, and entered in Liber 223 of Mortgages at page 269.
The
principal amount of the aforementioned mortgage was $800, and there is
now due and unpaid thereon the sum of Six Hundred Fifty ($650) Dollars
with interest thereon from the 7th day of July, 1939, which said
mortgage
and the amount due and to grow due thereon the parties of the second
part
herein covenant, assume and agree to pay as part of the purchase price
herein.

Being
the
same premises conveyed by Ross C. Scott, Jr. individually and a
executor
and others, to Ada M. Cronk, by warranty deed dated the 31st day of
December
and recorded in the Office of the clerk of Jefferson Count in Book No.
421 of Deeds at page 455.

Together
with the appurtenances and all the estate and rights of the party of
the
first part in and to the said premises. To have and to hold the
above
granted premises, unto the said parties of the second part, their heirs
and assigns forever. And the said Ada M. Cronk party of the first
part, does covenant with said parties of the second part as
follows:
First. - - That the parties of the second part shall quietly enjoy the
said premises. Second. - - That the said Ada M. Cronk,
party
of the first part will forever Warrant the title to said
premises.
Third. - - That the grantor receive _ the consideration for this
conveyance as a trust fund to be applied first for the
purpose of paying
the cost of any improvement, that has been commenced upon the premises
and has not been completed at least four months before the making and
recording
of this deed, and that the grantor will apply the same first to the
payment
of the cost of improvement before using any part of the total of the
same
for any other purposes.

In
Witness
Whereof, The said party of the first part has hereunto set her hand and
seal the day and year first above written.

ADA M.
CRONK
(L.S.)

$2.50 I.
R. Stps. Aff & Canc.

State
of
New York County of Jefferson Town of Adams SS: On this 30th day
of
September in the year Nineteen Hundred and Thirty-nine before me, the
subscriber,
personally appeared Ada M. Cronk to me known and known to me to be the
same person described in, and who executed the within Instrument, and
she
duly acknowledged to me that she executed the same.

Dwight
Block Located At 1 through 5 Main Street Demolished On July 11, 2005

According to sources in Adams and Watertown, NY;

In the spring of 2005, a heavy rain
storm added to the already perilous
condition of the Dwight Block, also known as Ring's store. After
the storm, bricks in the back
of the building (next to the Hotel Adams) at the 1st story level fell
out. It left a hole of about 5-6 feet high. According Carl
Fowler of The Jefferson County Journal; "You can see into
the first floor corner of the building now." Police crime line
tape was put up for safety purposes.

The Village of Adams Board
recently met to vote on three resolutions relating to the structures
fate. All resolutions dealt with demolition. All
resolutions passed.

Ring's store
thrived until the inception of GRANTS, K-Mart, and other discount
houses. Discount house corporations were the beginning of the end
of the small five and dimes across the United States. When Fred
J. Ring purchased the business from my dad (Alan C. Ring) in 1979, it
was a struggle. The building has changed hands many times since
the Ring's finally sold out and closed; once being owned by the
operator of the Jefferson County Journal, Carl Fowler. The
final owner owed 14 years worth of back taxes. The final
owner caused the buildings demise. They did nothing
towards upkeep.

HISTORIC IMAGES - THE COOPER BLOCK AND DWIGHT BLOCK

Left:
The
Cooper House Block before the fire that destroyed much of the west side
of Main Street.
Right: The original Ring's Store prior to 1945 expansion and the
purchase of the Market Basket.

The application for historical
designation
for the Ring Building was
completed June 15 after several years of work.The
next day, a section of the
wall on the ground level tumbled down. Preservationists' hopes
fell
with it. They had put many hours of work into trying to save the
red brick building at South Main and West Church streets. The idea to
develop a historic district in the village
initiated with the Ring Building. To
history enthusiasts and revitalization activists, the vacant building
represented the troubles and the potential of downtown. Their
dream
ended when engineers said the building might collapse in a strong
rainstorm. The only available option: Tear it down. "I'm very
upset," Adams historian Susan L.
Herse said. "This isn't just one to three days of work with one or two
interested people; we were working on this for a long time."
On
Friday, village Mayor Dugal C. Peck said the building will be
demolished July 11. "It puts a major hole in a major
intersection,"
Mr. Peck said. "We're still up in the air what will be put
there." But
he said plans for revitalizing downtown will continue. The efforts
include streetscape improvements and applying for listing several
buildings in and around Main
Street on the state and national historic
registers. "It won't change the direction of things, but that
building is out of the calculations," Mr. Peck said. Buildings
registered as historic qualify for 20 percent federal income tax credit
for costs of rehabilitation, and registered historic buildings owned by
nonprofit organizations or government agencies are eligible for
historic preservation grants.

The Ring Building has been vacant since
the early 1990s. The owners, Ronald and Denise
Hibbard, have not maintained the building and no property taxes have
been paid since 1991. It was condemned in 2002 with a ticket price of
almost $1 million for renovation and stabilization. The village Board
of Trustees then considered obtaining historic designation for the
building as the only affordable option to save it. Village
Trustee
Thomas E. Bowie, who led the historic district efforts, said that had
the process to get historic designation been faster, the Ring Building
might have been saved.
It was more than a year after the village expressed an interest in
having a historic district that a representative from Albany visited
the village, Mr. Bowie said. "Sometimes the government doesn't
expedite things," Mr. Bowie said. "It's a historic building and I like
to see them preserved. It will be hard to put something there."

The
building's history stretches to the late 19th century, when it was
known as the Dwight Block. "It's one of the older ones, if not the
oldest," Mrs. Herse said. It was built on the site of the Cooper House
Hotel after a fire in August 1884 destroyed that section of the
village. In 1938, Felix M. Ring founded Ring's
5&10 in a
section of the building. Before he retired in 1945, he expanded his
business by buying Market Basket, a grocery store at Church and Main
streets. He sold the business that year to his sons, Frederick J. and
Alan C. The Rings owned the building into the 1980s. It has gone
through different owners since the Rings, Mrs. Herse said. "The
reason it's known as the Ring Building is
because the family owned it longer than anybody else," she said.
Nancy
Ring Kendrick, Alan's daughter, who lives in Port Orange , Fla. ,
said by telephone that she is disappointed that the building bearing
her family's name will be no more. "Not just for us, but for the
whole town of
Adams.
I think there was so much history there," Mrs. Kendrick said. "I think
more could have been done to save it.

The beginning of the end!
Ironically, bricks had been falling out of this building beginning in
the 1960's and repaired on a yearly basis.
Ignorance of policitians caused the demise of this historic
building. Contrary to the views of Adams officials, "the sky was
not falling and the building was not going to fall down!" Yet,
they chose to destroy it due to their own agenda that did not include
waiting for the outcome of the application for historic
preservation! All of"DOWNTOWN"
Adams, NY was granted historic preservation status and funding in 2006,
a few short weeks after the Dwight Block was demolished. A true
case of "patience is a virtue!"

ADAMS
-- Work on the exposed wall of the Jefferson County Journal began last
week and will be completed in the next few weeks if the weather permits.

Precision
Plaster, Paint and Construction, Utica, has insulated the brick wall
and began Tuesday covering it with polystyrene, which will be topped
with mesh, said William P. Plante, an engineer with GYMO Architecture,
Engineering, & Land Surveying, Watertown. The contractors will
finish the job with masonry products.

"The final look will resemble
the
limestone in front of the
building," Mr. Plante said.

The
wall on the north side of the building was exposed when the village
demolished the former Ring Building in July because it was structurally
unsafe.

Mayor Dugal C. Peck said the
village may eventually paint a
mural on the finished wall.

Under
an agreement the village entered into with Karl A. Fowler, publisher of
Jefferson County Journal and owner of the building, the village owns an
easement on the exterior of the wall.

The
empty lot where the Ring building stood is at South Main and East
Church streets. Denise and Ronald Hibbard, who were listed as owners of
the now demolished building, have not paid county and village taxes
since the early 1990s. The village, which paid for the demolition of
the building, is eager to gain possession of the parcel from the county.

"There is a lot of discussion about what to do with that
lot,"
Trustee Brian C. Thomas said.

The idea of a park is high on the list.

"The site is too small for development, and it's a tough
one
for development just because of its size," Mr. Plante said.

He
said if the lot is turned into a park with benches, it will give people
who work downtown a place to eat their meals and relax during
warm-weather months.

There is also discussion of allowing parking on the empty
lot.

"I would think a park would be better than parking," Mr.
Thomas said. "I don't think there is enough space for parking there."

He
said the site could become a park with a fountain, flower boxes and an
interpretive plaque detailing the history of the building that stood
there for more than 100 years.